


Velvet

by NYWCgirl



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Deer people, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Force-Feeding, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Muzzles, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Non-Consensual Touching, Restraints
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-07-27 21:01:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20052481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl
Summary: Mac has always been proud of his antlers. They aren´t big and impressive like some stags, but they are ivory white. He is warned by the elders that that makes them a wanted trophy for human hunters.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic fills the ‘loss of a treasured possession’ square on my H/C Bingo card. It is inspired by the drawings of trytofocus on tumblr.  
Velvet antler is the whole cartilaginous antler in a precalcified growth stage of the cervidae family. Velvet antler is covered in a hairy, velvet-like ‘skin’ known as ‘velvet’.

Mac stops looking for berries, he is not sure what caught his attention, but it alarms him. He quietly backs off when the smell hits him, humans. He needs to get away. He quietly makes back tracks, but it turns out to be a trap and as soon as he realizes that, he starts running. A dart hits him in his hindquarters. The adrenaline makes it possible to run, but eventually whatever was in the dart starts working and he slows down to the point where he needs to stop and wavers in place. He can tell the hunters are closing in and he does his best to defend himself, but to no avail. The hunters back off, waiting for him to lose consciousness.

* * *

Murdoc can hear the jeeps driving up to the main house. He can´t wait to see if they were successful. When Burt, his main hunter enters with the fawn his eyes widen. They hit the jackpot.

‘You did extremely well, Burt.’

He admires the boy, he isn´t really a competing male, by the looks of the antlers, there is no damage to them. And they are ivory white, a rare find. The boy is still somewhere between the stage of a fawn and a buck. The boy’s antlers will fetch good money.

‘Murdoc, I think we should renegotiate our agreement, since the boys is worth more than you said.’

‘Sure, no problem. Put him in one of the cells and come back, we can discuss your finder’s fee.’

‘Sure boss.’

Burt walks out with the limp body. Murdoc takes a silencer from his desk, slowly screwing it on his gun. He walks out to the jeeps and kills off Burt´s crew. Without hesitation, he quickly goes back to his desk where he waits for Burt. The moment the man enters, he kills him. He never intended to keep the crew alive once he had the fawn. He had heard the rumors of a fawn with blond hair and white antlers, and here he is. He quickly walks over to the cell where Burt dropped the boy off. He is still out, so he quickly fastens a steel collar around the boys neck. The collar is fastened with a chain to the wall, so even if he left the door open, he can´t leave the cell.

Once the boy is secured, he lets his fingers trail over the velvet, it feels so soft and it gives him shivers. Too bad they will have to go. Velvet antlers are worth even more.

* * *

When Mac regains consciousness it isn´t gradually. His eyes snap open When he smells something that alarms him to his core. He tries to move, but he is fastened in a stockade.

A male voice laughs, ‘I´m sorry to wake you up so brutally, but I couldn´t have you suffocating in those restraints, could I?’

‘What do you want?’

‘Your antlers… they’re…’ the man lets his fingers trail over Mac´s antlers.

A shiver runs through Mac.

‘Oh, I didn´t know they are that sensitive.’

The man gives his right antler a kiss and Mac tries to pull away, making the stockade rattle, but it doesn´t budge. The man only laughs, stepping away.

‘Oh little one, you really are pretty.’

With that , the man leaves and Mac is only. He tries the stockade again, but it is just too sturdy, he is never going to get free from it without help.

Suddenly the man is back.

‘Apologies, We were never introduced, my name is Murdoc.’

Mac ignores him. He is not going to get social with his kidnapper.

‘So, are you going to tell me your name or do I need to do this the hard way?’

Mac looks down, totally ignoring Murdoc.

‘Oh well, more fun for me.’

The moment Mac sees what the man has in his hands, he swallows.

‘Yeah, which bone saw shall I use, the small one or the large one? The choice, the choice… I think I will use the small one, it is so much more intimate.’

‘No, please, don´t, please.’ Mac begs, his antlers shed every year, but he has heard stories that cutting antlers off can be life threatening. When Murdoc picks up the saw, Mac´s eyes widen. He starts to struggle in earnest now, but his head is safely secured. The wood creaks under his struggles but he can´t get out. Maybe if he struggles enough, Murdoc can´t cut.

‘Hold still little fawn, I don´t want to accidentally cut you with the saw, well not accidentally.’

He keeps resisting and Murdoc must be fed up, because suddenly a damp cloth is held against his face, he tries to hold his breath, but he already inhaled enough to leave him woozy. His legs turn wobbly and he stills as he tries to make sense of what is happening through the drugged haze.

Murdoc immediately uses the moment to start sawing. Mac bites back a scream and starts struggling again so Murdoc grabs the antler and continues.

When the first antler comes off, Mac startles and stills completely. Blood keeps dripping from the stump and the coppery scent fills the room making him gag.

Murdoc admires the antler a moment, turning it in his hands. He puts it down, returning with the saw. Within minutes, the other antler is also gone. Murdoc leaves the room, only to return with a set of restrains. The pain in his skull is overwhelming. Murdoc, quickly ties a leather muzzle over Mac´s mouth and fastens it. He has to breathe through his nose, making him gag even more over the smell of his own blood. He knows he can´t vomit, because he will suffocate, so he does his best to keep his nausea under control.

Once the stockade is loosened, Mac gets upright, but the head rush, make shim stagger. Murdoc keeps him upright by the collar. When he lets go, Mac trips and goes down hard. Murdoc takes the stockade and takes it away, so the cell is bare once again.

When the door closes behind him, Mac crawls towards the back wall and huddles against it. The pain is like nothing he has felt before. When blood runs in his eyes, he realizes it hasn´t stop bleeding. He closes his eyes when a wave of dizziness hits him. The cell is cold and damp and he shivers. He takes deep breaths, well as deep as the muzzle allows, and he opens his eyes again. He scans the cell, but it really is completely empty.

* * *

Murdoc lets his hands trail over the antlers. He sighs, it hurts him to have to part with them, but they will fetch him good money and he still has the boy. His antlers will grow in again and he will be able to harvest them again and again and again…

He wraps them in a wet cloth and bubble wrap before putting them in a box. He drives to a drop point where a woman is waiting for him.

‘You know what to do, right?’ he hands the box to the courier. The woman nods, accepting the box and handing over a bag with the money. He doesn´t check it, his buyers know not to mess with him.

He gets back inside the car and drives back.

* * *

Jack and Desi enter the building. The op went without a hitch, unfortunately, Desi had to kill the courier. Oh well, they have the goods. Once in the office, Jack opens the box and has a look inside. He lets out a surprised sound and Desi turns towards him.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘I don´t know, normally the organs are wrapped like this.’ He takes out the bubble wrap, unwrapping it.

His fingers tremble when he extends his hand to touch the antler. This is so wrong, he already regrets that Desi killed the woman.

‘Is that what I think it is?’

‘Yeah.’

Jack re-wraps them and walks to the lab.

‘Bozer, can you check for me if these were harvested from a living individual?’

Bozer looks shocked when he sees what Jack means but excepts the box with evidence, carefully unwrapping the antlers. He studies them meticulously.

‘The fawn was still alive when these were cut off. It must have been a very traumatic experience, especially to such a young one.’

‘How old?’

‘There is not much known about deer people, but best guess, this is his second or third growing in, he is not a buck yet. In human years, I would say around twenty five? The antlers look…’

‘Very expensive.’ Desi offers emotionless.

‘I have never seen such coloring.’

‘No, as far as I can tell, you are looking for a blond.’

‘Blond?

‘Yeah, see the hair that is stuck in the blood? It’s blond.’

‘Do you know how rare they are?’

‘Yeah, I do.’

Jack takes a deep breath, so these organ smugglers have no expanded their business.

‘Can you preserve them for me. The boy may want them back.’

‘Sure.’

Jack walks back to the war room. Matty is working on her laptop.

‘How can I help you Dalton?’

‘During the takedown, we confiscated a pair of white velvet antlers.’

‘White?’ Matty looks up.

‘I only now one person who would have the skill set and scrupulous.’

‘Yeah, that is what I was thinking.’

‘Well, what are you waiting for? Go find the boy.’


	2. Chapter 2

Murdoc can´t help himself and wanders back to the cell. He wants to know what the boy is called. He is still huddled in the corner of the cell. Tears streaks can be see through the blood. He makes a mental note to clean up the boy. He seems awake, but is staring with a thousand yard stare.

He enters the cell but the boy doesn´t even flinch. That´s no fun. So he crouches down and lets his fingers trail over the stumps. He can see a shiver run through the kid, who squeezes his eyes shut.

‘Why don´t you tell me your name?’

The boy doesn´t move at all, only presses himself harder in the wall. His breathing has picked up behind the muzzle.

‘I can take the muzzle off if you tell me your name.’

No response.

‘Your choice.’

He gets up and leaves the room. In het bathroom, he opens the extensive medicine cabinet and takes out a muscle relaxant, filling a syringe with it. Once back in the cell, the boy is still in his corner, he is shivering, which is strange, because it is not that cold, must be shock. Murdoc stabs the syringe in his thigh and the boy flinches, crying out behind the muzzle, but it is already done.

Murdoc slowly bends over the boy and when he doesn´t respond, unfastens the muzzle. He then takes a wet cloths and starts to clean the blood, cursing when the stumps start to bleed again. The boys flinches when his stumps are touched. Still sensitive.

Lethargic eyes roll towards him, ‘Pepper.’ He whispers.

Murdoc studies the boy, of course, pepper is naturally antibacterial and it also makes blood coagulate quickly. He quickly gets it in the kitchen and pours a generous amount of ground black pepper onto the wound and puts a bandage around the stumps.

He then continues to clean the blood away. He can see the huge black pupils follow his movements, but it is clear the boy is under the influence. He takes a brush and starts brushing the fur on his legs. He is mesmerized by the blond fur on the boy’s lower body. His skin is pale without much freckles so he must have been indoors most of his life.

‘You’re so pretty, do you know that?’

‘Please, don´t.’ he whispers, trying to shield his body with uncoordinated movements.

‘I will stop if you give me your name.’

The boys tries to pull away from Murdoc, making the chain rattle when he moves.

‘Please, stop.’

‘Suit yourself.’ Murdoc continues to caresses and brush the kid´s fur.

The kids squeezes his eyes shut, ‘Mac,’ he slurs.

Murdoc is not sure if he heard correctly, since it almost sounded like a whisper.

‘Mac? Well nice to meet you Mac.’

Murdoc takes the muzzle and reattaches it, before leaving the cell.

* * *

Murdoc wakes up and can´t wait to go see Mac. He has never felt like that about … well come to think of it, about nobody. He doesn´t care about people. That is what makes him so good in what he does. He shouldn´t get attached to the boy.

Oh well, he will enjoy it as long as he can and by the looks of it, he will keep the boy. First he will prepare some breakfast. What do deer people eat? He looks in the fridge and realizes he will need to go for a grocery run.

He takes some bread and a bottle of water. He injects the relaxants in the bottle before leaving for Mac´s cell. Mac is still sleeping but startles awake when the door opens.

‘Wakey, wakey pretty one. Eat, it probably will be a long day.’ He smirks.

Mac doesn´t move until Murdoc leaves. He doesn´t mind, the cell has camera surveillance, so he watches the screen while he eats. Mac leaves the bread and studies the bottle. It only now occurs to him that he doesn´t know if Mac has ever seen a bottle. But soon enough, Mac twists off the lid and starts drinking. Luckily one of the side effects of muscle relaxants is a dry mouth.

Mac gets up and listens, he can see the boys ear scan the room, when he certain he is alone, he starts examining the cell. He does it meticulously and Murdoc is impressed, he never thought the species was this inventive. Not that he has much experience with interaction with deer people.

However the drug soon start to kick in, and he can see Mac starting to wobble on his hoofs. He stubbornly tries to stay upright, but eventually has to give up and lets himself drop to the floor. He weakly tries to crawl back to the corner.

Murdoc gets up and goes to the cell with the brush in his hands. When he enters lethargic blue eyes look up at him and he slowly tries to get away, but finally stills. Murdoc starts to brush Mac´s fur. He can see tremors rack through Mac´s skin, like a horse when there are flies on him. Mac looks so tired, he clearly fights to keep his eyes open.

‘Shh, pretty. Everything is alright.’

Mac finally let´s his eyes slip close.

* * *

‘Did we find anything, Riley?’

‘Yeah, I ran Gloria´s picture through my facial recognition software. I have her on traffic cams throughout the city and the highway up north. At the moment I have her as she entered the highway, before that, there are no traffic cams.’

Riley projects a map on the big screen in the war room. A red line shows the path Gloria took. Once she entered the highway, she was picked up by the system. Before that, there is no footage.

‘So we know where she entered civilization but not from which direction she came.’ Jack sighs.

‘Not yet, I am still working on this.’

Riley returns to her computer and Jack paces. He needs to do something. So he goes to the IT-department. The moment he enters, all eyes are on him, it is not like he is a frequent visitor of the department.

‘Hey Jack, Riley is not here.’

‘Oh, I am not here for Riley, I want to find out more about deer people.’

Jill points at a tablet, ‘google it.’

‘Oh yeah, right.’

He takes the tablet and starts his research.

‘Jack, Riley is looking for you, she said she can´t reach you.’

Jack checks his phone and realizes he put it on mute. He quickly makes his way to the war room, he didn´t realizes this much time has already passed.

‘What’s up Riles?’

‘I found camera footage from a Walmart, where Gloria stopped.’

‘OK, so we can guess the general direction she came from.’

‘Yeah, when I extrapolate her journey she comes from a fairly remote area. There are only some hunting cabins.’

‘Can we narrow it down.’

‘Well, there is one cabin that is larger than the others, useable for hunting parties.’

‘Do we know the owner?’

‘Yes, already contacted the owner, he rented out the place for the whole year to a group of hunters.’

‘Do we know who they are?’

‘No, it appears to be some sort of collective, they use it whenever they want.’

‘Like a time share?’

‘Yeah, something like that.’

‘Well, I still think it is our best bet, let’s check it out.’

* * *

‘Good morning, pretty.’

Mac starts awake when Murdoc enters the cell. He doesn´t respond to Murdoc, ignoring him as best as he can.

‘Don´t be like that, precious. I’ve got you something.’

Murdoc holds up a vial, ‘I was told this is a potion to grow your antlers back, so let’s give it a try, shall we?’

Mac has never heard of such a potion to grow your antlers back, making him recoil. Murdoc grabs his collar and pulls him closer, ‘we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Completely up to you.’

Mac considers his options, he is not willing to make this easy on Murdoc, on the other hand, he isn´t looking forward to getting drugged, so he stills.

‘Good boy, ‘ Murdoc croons.

He releases Mac´s collar to open the vial and the moment he takes his eyes of Mac, Mac strikes with all his strength. The man falls backwards in a heap. Mac can´t believe this worked. But now he needs a plan to get the chain off so he can get out of here. He knows he can´t get rid of the collar, he tried before, so he kneels next to where the chain is connected to the wall. He knows there is nothing in the cell he can use, but maybe he can pry off the bolt with his hoof. A quick check tells him Murdoc is still out. He quickly works on a way to get the chain off, when something is jabbed in his hip.

Murdoc… he must have woken.

‘Guess you chose the hard way, precious.’

Mac can already feel the drugs spreading through his body, making him wobble. Murdoc appears with a chair. When did he leave?

Mac is pulled on top of the chair and restrained to it. He lazily blinks as he can see Murdoc taking a rubber tube and measuring it. He is not sure what he is going to do with it. Murdoc forces something between his teeth so he can´t close his mouth. The rubber hose is inserted through his nostril into his stomach. Murdoc listens to his stomach and when he is satisfied, a liquid, the color of blood drips through the tube into his body. Mac wants to struggle but the muscle relaxants prevent him from doing so.

‘Well, that worked like a charm, let’s feed you while we’re at it, shall we?’

Murdoc comes back with a bottle and attaches it to the tube. A cream colored liquid enters his body and soon he feels full. Luckily , the bottle is almost empty. When they are done, Murdoc removes the tube and washes his face, when there is a knock on the door.

* * *

‘Are we almost there, Riley?’

She checks the laptop, ‘yeah, it should be here somewhere.’

Jack steers the jeep over the unhardened path. So much for stealth.

‘It should be here within a mile to the north.’

Jack stops the jeep and gives last minute instructions to the tac team in the back. He tells Riley to stay in the car. They perform a last comm check and then they are off. Once everybody is in place, Jack pulls out his gun, releasing the safety and knocks on the door.


	3. Chapter 3

Murdoc sighs and turns back to Mac, ‘sorry for the interruption, I will be right back.’

Mac closes his eyes, he needs to gather his strength and try to attract some attention from whomever is at the door. He can hear the door open and Murdoc addressing whomever is outside. He does his best to shout, but no sound leaves his mouth and tears of frustration well up. Being trapped in his own body, it is the only way to release the built-up stress. His panic increases when Murdoc returns.

‘Precious, why the tears?’

Murdoc takes Mac’s face in his hands and wipes away the tears with his tumbs, ‘I’m going to take good care of my pet.’

* * *

Jack knocks again. He can hear someone approaching and he readies himself. He can hear the door being unlocked and…

A little girl with her mum appear in the door opening. Jack immediately lowers his gun while the mother pulls her daughter behind her.

‘Stand down’ he commands in his comm.

The mum is the first to recuperate, ‘ what do you want?’

‘I’m sorry ma’am, federal agents, we are looking for this man and were told we could find him here.’ Jack holds up his phone with a picture of Murdoc.

‘I’m sorry, I have never seen this man. We are here on a hunting trip.’

Jack holds up his badge, ‘do you mind if we check the house?’

‘We?’

‘Well, my team has surrounded the house.’

The woman looks surprised but nods.

‘Thank you, ma’am.’

Jack tells the TAC team to come out but wait outside while he checks the house, something tells him the woman is telling him the truth. There are no hidden rooms or other suspicious items and Jack thanks the woman, apologizing again for the intrusion.

He stomps back to the car.

‘Nothing! We were on the wrong track. There was a child in there,’ he rants.

‘I’m sorry, I will…’

‘Not your fault, I… I just hate it that there is an innocent involved, and…’

‘We will find him Jack, we will.’

* * *

Murdoc is ecstatic, Mac´s antlers are re-growing. Since Mac tried to escape once again, Murdoc keeps him under a light sedation. Not enough to knock him out, but enough to disorient him and to slow down the boy’s brain.

He gently strokes Mac´s nubs. They are growing in again and Murdoc can still not get over the silky feeling the velvet has. It is so soft, he can´t stop touching them. He realizes Mac hates it, but he can´t help himself and it is not up to Mac, so.

It is also clear the growing in hurts, because Mac is still, lost most of his appetite and sleeps a lot. OK, that could also be attributed to the drugs, but still. The boy needs his strength, the growing in takes a lot of energy and he doesn´t want the boy to get sick. Fortunately he only has to threat with force feeding and Mac eats anything he puts in front of him. He wouldn’t mind force feeding Mac again. It has something intimate.

In the rate the antlers are growing, he should be able to harvest them somewhere at the end of the week. He asked Mac if this is the normal grow rating, but the boy refuses to talk to him. To his delight it appears the antlers are growing bigger than they were. The stem is already longer than the ones he cut off. Even the branches appear bigger, which would explain the subdued hunched posture. The boy is not used to the larger, probably heavier antlers.

However these will bring in the big bucks, because they kept their fair coloring. The boy just looks absolutely stunning, especially in pain.

* * *

Mac wakes up, he still isn´t used to the weight of his new antlers. They are bigger than they ever were, it probably has to do with the potion Murdoc made him drink.

He still hasn´t found a way to escape and it is frustrating. This man is clearly a pro. If he would just stop drugging him. He has contemplated to stop eating and drinking, but his survival instinct is just too big. Sometimes it makes him feel guilty that he is so weak to give in to Murdoc’s request to eat, but he really doesn´t want to be force fed again. And he needs to keep fighting and find a way to get out of here.

The moment the door opens, he retreats to the far back corner. They have this routine by now. Murdoc will want to stroke his antlers. He’ll refuse. Murdoc will leave breakfast or what has to pass as breakfast, no, he supposes this is what humans eat for breakfast, still.

And depending on Murdoc´s mood, he will leave or insist more forceful.

‘Good Morning, Macgyver, hope you slept well. May I?’

He stretches out his hand but Mac shakes his head, immediately regretting the movement.

‘The weight bothering you? I could massage your shoulders for you.’

‘Stay away from me.’

‘Now now, pretty, I just want to make you more comfortable.’

Murdoc puts the tray on the floor, ‘eat up, you will need your strength.’

Murdoc leaves the room and for some reason, Mac is suspicious, why does he need his strength?’

He decides to forfeit breakfast and waits. As expected Murdoc returns some time later.

‘You didn´t eat, precious. You are being a naught boy. Lucky for you I have a weakness for naughty boys. It’s fine, I made you sometime special for lunch.’

Murdoc slowly approaches him. So it is going to be such a day. His hand is already stretched out and a shiver runs through him. Mac watches him like a hawk, until he feels a sting in his thigh. Shit, he was so focused on Murdoc´s outstretched hand, he didn´t see the syringe in the other hand.

His legs almost immediately give out underneath him. Murdoc steadies him and guides him to the floor.

‘I’m sorry boy I have to stop your little spiel, but it’s time to harvest those gorgeous antlers. I have a buyer who is getting rather anxious.’

Mac weakly tries to struggle but he is no match against Murdoc and soon his neck is once again fastened in the familiar stockade. Once restrained Murdoc leaves the cell and comes back with the saw.

The drugging and hands on his antlers make the experience even more traumatic. After what feels like forever, Murdoc starts sawing.

* * *

Jack instructs his team and waits until they have taken their positions. He knocks on the door of the cabin but nobody opens the door. He can´t tell why, but he has a bad feeling about this one. This could be the one.

He gives the order to breach and once the door is rammed in, a flash grenade is thrown in. Within minutes it is confirmed they have the right cabin. The team has a still stunned Murdoc subdued. Jack tells him take him away as he carefully approaches Mac. There is blood everywhere and Jack realizes the kid must be scared as hell. He desperately tries to get away but it is clear his coordination is completely off. Once antler is cut off, explaining the blood.

‘Frank, can you get the medical kit so we can stop this bleeding?’ Jacks asks in his radio.

Jack slowly extends his hand, putting it on the boy’s shoulder, ‘you’re safe kid. Can you hear me?’

Together with another team member, Jack unfastens the stockade and releases the boy, keeping hold of him so he can´t bolt. But he doesn´t do such a thing which surprises Jack.

‘Take it easy kid, you’re safe now. We’re going take care of your head, OK?’

The boy probably can´t hear him, because he keeps trying to back away, failing miserably.

‘It’s OK, kid, I’ve got you. He can´t touch you anymore.’

Jack slowly lifts the boy’s face, looking into too dilated pupils, drugged… It explains the boy’s subdued posture. Jack can see tremors running through the boy.

‘I’m Jack, what’s your name?’

He feels for the boy, who is sort of staring at him, probably trying to make sense of what is happening.

‘Let me get that collar off of you.’

He takes his SAK and quickly removes the collar, wincing at the raw skin underneath it. He asks for a blanket through his radio and not long after Frank returns with a blanket and a medical kit. Jack drapes it over the boy.

‘Mac.’

‘What’s that, son?’

‘My name is Mac.’

Jack smiles, ‘nice to meet you, Mac. I have been looking for you for some time. I´m sorry I didn´t find you quicker.’

Frank is trying to get the bleeding under control while trying to clean the boy’s face a bit. By the time they have the bleeder under control, Mac is pale and wavering, so Frank tells Jack they are going to take Mac with them for further care.

Mac´s eyes turn wide and he makes another attempt to get away. But he is no match to Jack and Frank, not in this state. They pull the blanket a bit firmer around him trying to explain they aren´t going to hurt him. But Mac is starting to panic when they pull him up and try to carry him out.

‘Can´t you give him something?’

‘No, not with the drugs already in his system. I would guess they were muscle relaxants and I don´t want to risk depressing his breathing any further. Wait. Maybe I have something.’

Frank pulls off his bandana and ties it around Mac´s eyes. Blindfolded he stills and they quickly carry him out and in the car. Jack sits with him in the back and pulls the boy closer mindful for the antler.

But as soon as the care drives off, the humming of the engine and the adrenaline fatigue has Mac fast asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Mac doesn´t wake for the whole ride back to the Phoenix. Jack worries. The boy looked so fragile, making him feel protective, and he knows the got him out of there, but he is still worried.

When they arrive it hurts him to have to wake the kid, but it is better to wake him than him waking to them retracting him from the vehicle.

‘Mac? Mac, can you wake up for me?’

But the kid stays non-responsive so Jack decides to pick him up. His back creaks while doing so, the kid is much heavier than he looks. Medical staff is waiting next to the SUV with a stretcher, so Jack sets Mac down on it. He starts to come to, moving weakly so the team hurries inside. Once inside a room, they dim the lights before taking off the blind fold. Mac blinks but keeps still.

‘Hey Mac, remember me? You are safe, OK?’

His eyes lazily travel towards Jack´s voice, ‘Jack?’ he slurs.

‘That´s right, kid, remember I said I would take care of you?’

Mac slowly nods.

‘Well, the doc here, wants to have a look at you. We’re not going to do anything that causes you harm, do you understand?’

Mac nods once again.

‘They want to take some blood to see what the man gave you.’

A frown appears on Mac´s face, ‘Murdoc?’

‘Is his name Murdoc?’

Mac nods.

‘OK, that is helpful. We have him in custody. He can´t hurt you anymore.’

While they are talking, the doctor already drew blood and sent it out for analysis.

‘I sit OK to touch your pedicle, it is still sluggishly bleeding.’

Mac nods, ‘that’s OK.’

The doctor gently examines what remains and gives instructions to the nurse. A couple of minutes later the bleeding is stopped and the pedicle bandaged. Next on the list are the abrasions on Mac´s neck. A nurse quickly cleans the, deciding that they don´t need bandaging.

By the time the medical team seems satisfied, Mac is almost asleep, reeling on the examination table.’

‘Can I take him home doc?’

‘Yeah, there is no need for him to stay here and he will be more comfortable outside this clinical setting. If something comes out of the blood analysis, I will call you.’

Jack nods, putting an hand on Mac´s shoulder, ‘Hey Mac, did you hear that. Let’s go.’

Mac blearily blinks at Jack who smiles and picks Mac up to put in the wheelchair one of nurses brought in.

* * *

Jack opens the door to is apartment and pulls Mac inside.

‘Welcome to Casa Dalton.’

Mac’s eyes hang half-mast and he lazily looks around. Jack sits Mac on the couch, slowly guiding him down, so he is laying down. Mac´s eyes are closed before Jack straightens out. He takes a blanket, draping it over Mac. He takes a moment to study Mac, who seems to sleep peacefully. He walks into the kitchen to make something to eat. Checking his cupboards he realizes it is time to do some grocery shopping. He also realizes he doesn´t know what a person like Mac eats. But everybody like soup, don´t they? So he takes a can of tomato soup and prepares some sandwiches he can grill when Mac wakes. After pouring himself a glass of coke, he walks back to the living room and sits down, turning on the TV.

Jack starts awake. When did he fall asleep? He stays still for a moment, scanning his surroundings. The noise that wake him comes from mac, he’s having a nightmare. Jack gets up and walks over, bending over Mac to wake him. He touches the boy’s shoulder and…

… gets whacked against the side of his head by Mac´s antler. He is dazed for a moment.

‘I’m sorry, I…’ Mac stammers, eyes wide.

‘No, it’s fine… just give me a minute.’

Jack feels his temple and is surprised to see blood ion his fingers.

‘I didn´t mean to hurt you.’ Mac blurts out, eyes wide in panic.

‘I know kid, I should have been more careful. It’s just a scratch. Don´t worry.’

Jack walks to the kitchen, pulling out a first aid kit. He can´t find a pair of scissors, so he takes out his SAK and pulls out the little scissors to cut off a piece of band aid. He can see Mac watching his every move. He even gets up and approaches Jack , studying what he is doing.

‘It’s a band aid, do you know what that is?’

Mac shakes his head.

‘It stops the bleeding and prevents dirt from getting in the wound.’

Mac nods in understanding, touching his pedicle. It’s an unconscious move and Jack smiles.

‘Are you hungry? I have tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.’

Mac´s stomach growls.

‘I guess that is a yes to being hungry, right?’

Jack lights the gas under the pan of soup and a pan to grill the pre-made sandwiches. When the cheesy aroma fills the kitchen, Mac´s stomach growls again.

‘Take a seat, I will bring the food to the table.’

Mac’s hooves click on the floor while he walks to the table followed by Jack with the tray.

‘Dig in, kid.’

Jack starts eating and once again Mac studies Jack before taking his sandwich and dunking it in the soup. Once he has the first bite in his mouth, he almost moans.

‘This is good.’ He mumbles around the next bite.

‘Well, it isn´t my nan´s recipe, but it is pretty good.’

Jack notices Mac is holding his head tilted. The uneven weight must bother him but Jack can´t think of a way to help the kid without further traumatizing him. For now he will just open his home for Mac. They will need him to give a statement so they can prosecute Murdoc.

‘That antler bothering you?’

‘It’s heavy, it was never this big.’

Jack noticed before that the antlers they found were much smaller than the ones Mac is wearing right now.

‘What happened?’

‘I don´t know. Murdoc made me drink a potion to regrow them quicker. I guess the potion also influenced the size.’

‘We’ll figger it out, kid. Don´t worry.’

Jack extends his hand towards Mac´s shoulder. Mac flinches before he can stop himself.

‘I’m not going to hurt you.’

‘I know, I am sorry, I do trust you. What were you going to do?’

‘Give you a shoulder rub. I’m a pretty good masseur.’

Mac changes his posture, indicating that he is OK with Jack touching him. Jack massages Mac´s shoulders and he can feel Mac slowly relax under the his touch.

‘You’re gonna be OK, Mac.’

* * *

_Two days later…_

Driving back from the Phoenix, where Mac gave his testimony, Jack was thinking on getting him a treat. Mac has been brooding on his testimony and it had taken it lot out of the kid. He is visually tired, no it is more than just fatigue but Jack can´t get his finger under it.

A couple of blocks from the Phoenix Jack pulls into a drive-through.

‘Two Rocky-road sundaes, please.’

The deviation from their drive home has Mac´s curiosity woken again. It’s fun to see the glint in mac´s eyes when Jack hands him the two sundaes.

‘We’ll find a spot, where we can eat these in peace.’

Jack parks the car and takes one of the ice creams back. He smiles when he sees Mac´s eyes widen in surprise after the first scoop.

‘This is the best thing I have even eaten.’ He joyfully blurts out with a mouth full of ice cream.

‘Glad you like it. Shall we go home?’

Mac nods with a sad look.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing.’

They drive home and it is clear something is bothering Mac.

‘I need to go home.’ Mac mumbles so quiet Jack wouldn´t have heard it if he wasn´t observing Mac.

‘I know. I will miss you.’

‘Me too.’ Mac is looking down, not meeting Jack´s eyes.

‘You want to go now?’

‘It’s for the best.’

Jack nods, intellectually he knows Mac is right, he needs to go back, be with his own people. They go back to the car and they drive up north. They end up in a faraway woody area when Mac tells Jack to stop.

After getting out of the car, Jack looks at Mac who seems uncomfortable.

‘What’s wrong Mac? Are you in pain?’

‘I’m fine.’ Mac reaches up at his antler and sort of pulls it off, leaving Jack staring speechless. Mac offers Jacks the antler, ‘I want you to have it, so you remember me.’

‘You can shed them?’

‘Yeah, if I really want, normally they will shed at the end of mating season, but yeah, I can.’

Realization dawns on Jack that Murdoc tortured Mac for nothing.

‘I can´t accept them Mac, it…’

‘I want you to have it.’

Jack accepts the antler, marveling at the beauty of it. After a couple of seconds, he takes his SAK and hands it to Mac, ‘take this and you will remember me.’

Mac accepts the knife and smiles, ‘Yeah I will. Thank you.’

Mac steps backwards, ready to go but Jack stops him, ‘wait.’ He steps closer and pulls Mac in a bear hug. Mac stiffens but eventually acknowledges the hug.

‘Stay safe!’

He can feel Mac smile against his shoulder, ‘ I´ll do my best.’

‘That is all I ask.’

Jack lets go and Mac smiles, turns and is off, much quicker than Jack would have thought possible. The boy will be OK. He has to.


End file.
